21st century living aspirations require our homes, work and social spaces to be open, flexible, sustainable and space efficient. This has created open plan living, demand for more lettable area in our offices and introduced new sustainable materials. Fire safety is often seen to prohibit modern architectural or end user aspirations as conforming to generic guidance documents and complying with legislation can appear a barrier to innovation. In historic buildings for example, it is not always possible to follow fire safety design guidance to satisfy legislation.
The Fire Surgery provides fire safety advice on a wide range of projects in order to meet legislation such as Part B of the Building Regulations, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order and local planning requirements. We also consider property protection requirements of the client and carry out property protection risk assessments if required to support the design.
Feasibility
The Fire Surgery can provide fire engineering advice during the early stages of a project (typically RIBA Stages 0/1) and we believe this is the optimum time to get us involved in your project. The true question of a project’s success is a meticulous feasibility study as this will flush out the risk and opportunities in any proposal. Often a feasibility study has a number of options based on economic drivers demanding maximum return for investment. Prior to consultation with the approving bodies, we can give proposals the confidence to allow key decisions to be made so that the right design can be identified.
Design
During the design Stages of a project (typically RIBA Stages 2 to 4) The Fire Surgery can develop a Fire Strategy for your project. A fire strategy is necessary for every new or refurbished building to ensure the safety of its occupants, limit damage to the property, obtain regulatory approvals and protect business continuity. We deliver creative design solutions that help to realise the architectural vision, and which are practical and realistic to manage once the building is occupied. We can use the general approach to fire safety (Approved Document B) or the advanced approach using BS 9999. Knowing the RIBA stages of design well, our deliverables are tailored and focussed to design team and end-user needs.
Planning Applications
During the planning process, The Fire Surgery will help the design team address the concerns of the planning authorities and help them to provide appropriate information to include in the planning submission. As part of the Draft New London Plan, projects are now required to submit a fire statement that details specifics of the project to ensure it can be safely built within the Building Regulations. This focused document, demonstrating both the fire safety features of the building and competency of the team involved, can be provided by The Fire Surgery to suit the requirements of the local planning authority.
Approvals Process
All projects are required to demonstrate that they meet the fire safety requirements of the Building Regulations, and The Fire Surgery will help the design team to achieve this. To reduce approvals risks, we seek to involve the approving authorities as early as possible in discussions to ensure that the project is on the right track. Early consultations with Building Control, Approved Inspectors and the Fire Service can reduce uncertainty and late stage changes to the design, as well as paving the way to a smooth approvals process.